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Tin Men
Tin Men: The Dehumanization of Humanity and Culture Through War is a political nonfiction novel written by Lavernius Jur after the ending of the Fourth War. It discusses the heavy consequences of the constant war efforts of the Alliance and the Horde on Azeroth, its environment, and its cultures. The novel harbors a fiercely anti-war sentiment and condemns the militaristic expansionist attitudes of the factions, the neglect on places culminated and left behind, sexual abuse within the military, the desensitization of violence, as well as the decline in morale, altruism, and hope with the rise of nationalism, violence, prejudice, profit, and xenophobia. Though it does harshly condemn the attitudes of both factions, it tends to lean more focus onto the Alliance. Many major figureheads were interviewed to offer their viewpoints on the faction wars, such as Thrall, and Taran Zhu. Summary The novel opens with a foreward from Lavernius Jur himself, detailing his personal and political history upon Azeroth and his experience with both factions. After the foreward, an extensive history of the Alliance and Horde is given of how they evolved and what shaped them, lined wall to wall with citations and sources. Many parallels are drawn between the two factions and their people. Though it starts off as a hopeful and insightful retrospective, it slowly shifts to a downtrodden and melancholic condemnation of their fall from grace, the repetition of history and its flaws, and what the future might hold. Afterwards, there is a detailed section listing the many stains upon the legacy of the Alliance and Horde, listing many failings in their long-winded histories. The Horde's history is portrayed from its early days of servitude under Blackhand, the sacking of Stormwind, Grom Hellscream drinking the Blood of Mannoroth to fight Cenarius, the underground slavery ring, the Forsaken experiments, the burning of the Shady Rest Inn at the hands of the Grimtotem, the bombing of Stonetalon and Theramore, Sylvanas plaguing the city of Gilneas, the Sunreavers stealing the Divine Bell, the attempted subjugation of Eyir, the murder of Calia Menethil at the Gathering, and the Burning of Teldrassil. Though the days of the Horde before the Third War painted them in a more sympathetic light, this was lost with the shift towards Garrosh and Sylvanas, with the author citing the other leaders' inaction as a core contribution to their rise. Questions of whether the Horde can truly be redeemed are raised, with the author expressing severe doubt. The Alliance faired a laundry list not quite as expansive, but it did shed light on the hidden stains upon the blue and gold flag. Lord Aiden Perenolde had sold out his fellow men to the Orcish Horde and allowed them to pass to Lordaeron without a fight in order to spare Alterac, the state of martial law imposed onto the citizens of Gilneas by Genn Greymane, the rapid sexual abuse of orc women in the internment camps, a harsh-cutting interview with Thrall detailing the secret life of Aedelas Blackmoore and his sexual abuse of Taretha Foxton, the neglect of Westfall and the mistreatment of the Stonemasons leading to the rise of the Defias Brotherhood, Garithos and Alliance exploitation of the suffering high elves in the aftermath of the Sunwell's devastation, Daelin Proudmoore and his assault upon Orgrimmar, former archdruid Fandral Staghelm ordering the ethnic cleansing of trolls for claiming that kaldorei evolved from dark trolls, the Theramore deserters and the questionable involvement of the guard with the Shady Rest Inn incident, the purging of Camp Taurajo and the subsequent manslaughter of its tauren civilians, the sabotage of a goblin mine and the deaths of its laborers at the hands of General Twinbraid, the kidnapping of Thrall at the hands of SI:7, the murder of vulpera civilians at the hands of the Alliance during the Conquest of Zandalar war campaign, and others. The Taurajo Massacre is one of great controversy as there are contradictory accounts of the events. Baine Bloodhoof himself even testified on the Alliance's behalf that General John Hawthorne had given tauren civilians an opening to flee before assaulting the village. A few locals and survivors - however - tell a different story, with bodies being scavenged by Alliance soldiers for their belongings. Deeper investigation revealed that Alliance soldiers had broken ranks to loot the bodies and attack unarmed civilian holdouts, both recruited men and non-violent criminals from the Stockades that were drafted. Next was a hard look into the zones the factions had conscripted through their military expansion. Ashenvale, Azshara, and Stonetalon had suffered greatly because of the rampant expansion and deforestation before and during the reign of Garrosh Hellscream, shedding light on the damage done to the environment and the dwindling of natural resources. Sylvanas Windrunner's actions were equally and harshly condemned for environmental - near irreversible - damage and crimes against mortal decency. This led to a condemnation of the complacency of fellow Horde leadership, bowing its head and admonishing itself of responsibility. The Alliance itself was not without critique however, as light had been shed on the severe neglect Westfall, Duskwood, and Redridge had suffered because of the House of Nobles exploiting the power vacuum left in the absence of King Varian Wrynn. Even after the king's return, Westfall had still been egregiously neglected and still suffered from poverty, dwindling resources, and homelessness. This expanded farther out, as far as Pandaria where Shado-Pan leader Taran Zhu offered his perspective on the factions. The monk made it no secret that he harbored a grudge against the factions for bringing their foreign war to his lands, dividing its people, and scarring their land. Though the Vale of Eternal Blossoms had finally healed, the pandaren still believed their involvement with the Alliance and the Horde was a mistake that he wish they had never made. The author turned a spotlight to the rise of nationalism and xenophobia within the factions, which rose at different intervals within. When Garrosh took the mantle of warchief, a rise in orcish supremacy and disdain for the "lesser" races had come as a result of what the author deemed "the Great Lie". The Great Lie is illusionist dogma perpetrated by Garrosh to promote the image of the orc supremacist, that the Horde was founded to be a single fist to wipe away those weaker than the orcs. Tons of evidence is shown to showcase this as what it is - delusional brainwashing to hide from a failure of the orcish people. The Orcish Horde had been founded to be an army for the Burning Legion, its sole use to purge the draenei and eventually be discarded. The warrior-shamanistic people had been deceived and led astray, and the Great Lie was pushed to hide from failure. Its believers would rather embrace the idea they were violent murderers than being victims that were deceived and betrayed, as the latter implies some sort of weakness or moral failing. The Alliance are also pointed a finger at, as a rise in nationalism came during the aftermath of the Third War. The blood elves withdrawing from the Alliance is painted as a betrayal by Alliance propaganda, with the double standard of Gilneas being pointed at in response by the author. Gnomes had also been discriminated against and ridiculed for years by the other races, with their noble sacrifice of defending Gnomeregan on their own in order to spare the Alliance men being downplayed and forgotten by the rest of the Alliance. The plight of the Forsaken was also touched upon, with the author painting them as victims to the Alliance. Despite the claims the Alliance wished to take its city back, there was an immense refusal to recognize the Forsaken as the original owners and victims. The faction divide and issue of identity and ownership is an incredibly difficult debate with no clear answer, as long as the factions continue to harbor their grudges. Fandral Staghelm was noted to be openly xenophobic of the tauren, he and other kaldorei largely ignoring the sacrifices the tauren had made to helping their people as well as the subsequent abandoning of them when the centaur tribes began slaughtering their people. Most notably was the return of the Scarlet Crusade to the city, which began to filter en masse after Anduin Wrynn ascended to the throne. The Crusaders pushed heavy xenophobic as well as nationalistic dogma upon the people once given a voice, discriminating and harassing other races in the streets. Civil unrest, racial divides, and tensions were at an all-time high within the Alliance, especially during the aftermath of the Burning of Teldrassil. Proceeding the section came an uneasy look into the rampant sexual assault and misconduct issue within the military. Based on interviews with varying different soldiers and organizations - both serving and former - the amount of misconduct and its subsequent overlook was truly astounding. During Garrosh's reign, female Alliance prisoners were severely sexually abused, and female soldiers were harassed significantly. The Alliance fared little better, as many female prisoners in the internment camps after the Second War reported being sexually abused by Alliance soldiers, who had deemed them less than dogs. Children of such unions were forcibly taken from the mothers, with their fates unknown. Though, the author believes it to be nothing good. Female soldiers are harassed greatly in the Alliance military, with lower-ranking recruits being forced to trade sexual favors in exchange for advancing up the latter. Prisoners within the Stockades are greatly abused, with soldiers often forcing them to undergo demoralizing and humiliating sexual acts for their amusement. Underage and barely legal predation is a rampant issue within the military, as soldiers - even low ranking privates - use their titles to groom and sway young girls into relationships and favors. Looking into the kaldorei military painted an even more uneasy picture. Many wardens reported unwarranted sexual misconduct and harassment at the hands of their female superior officers but were unable to voice their concerns, as sexual abuse at the hands of women was downplayed or deemed nonexistent. Following this was a scathing look at the House of Nobles and their lack of respect for law and rule. While ordinary civilians are forced to obey the military drafts - such as during the Fourth War - nobility use their wealth to pay off high-ranking officers and spare their youth from fighting. As a result, poorer families are disproportionately targeted for military recruitment, as they are easier to influence with the promise of titles and wealth. As more soldiers come from poorer and/or impoverished families, their families are disenfranchised greater in the event of their deaths. Nobles use this vacuum to spread their influence and take control of areas weakened by a lack of more stable populations. Military recruitment programs are seeded by noble families into schools at the behest of the kingdom to influence and steer less fortunate youth into doing the fighting for them while their own wealthy families stay at home untouched. The novel ends with a recount of recent progress and successes, with it being noted that no regions outside of Stormwind have received significant aid, reimbursement, relief, or reconstruction in years. Westfall still struggles with its poverty problem, with the Alliance spending most of its money on expanding to new areas and letting them fall to the wayside after the war is over and they move on. Military bases are managed by skeleton crews with little resources to sate them, on both sides. The Horde leaders refusing to take responsibility for their inaction and instead blaming it on a singular warchief is cited as a weakness of the Horde's character, with environments being devastated and polluted severely. Both factions consume more resources than they create, leading to a lack of a centralized location of renewable resources and a declining population. Over the past ten years, the faction populace has trickled down more and more on account of the death tolls and constant warring. The author concludes the novel with a scathing critique. Problems within the factions are swept aside, downplayed, and ignored in order to keep the nationalistic illusion of greatness that harms and disenfranchises more than it helps. A final warning is stated that if this modus operandi is not changed and the factions do not draw inward to maintain themselves and harbor growth and healing instead of expansion and consumption, then the Alliance and Horde could collapse entirely within ten years' time. A total complete and utter devolving of the two factions into scattered micro-nations attempting to take over scattered lands to maintain, fight over, and hold onto before ultimately collapsing under their own weight. Society would ultimately collapse back into Feudal times where lots of history, resources, and people would be lost and irreversibly damaged. Response The novel was incredibly controversial and earned the ire of many Alliance loyalist groups, who claimed the book held a heavy bias against the Alliance. Its final section was dismissed as fearmongering and skepticism despite the plethora of sources provided. Many groups rallied to protest its selling and presence within public libraries. Others called it reactionary and biased coming from an ambassador that played both sides in the past. A small group of people began to speak up after its release about mistreatment and exploitation they suffered at the hands of military personnel, prompting a minor investigation at one point. His recounting of the Shady Rest Inn incident generated a lot of suspicion, as well as outrage from Theramore loyalists. However - with Theramore destroyed and most of the records being destroyed and men listed as missing in action - no proper investigation could take place. Despite the reaction, it sold an incredible amount upon its release, fueled even more by its controversy and protest.Category:Books Category:Politics Category:Military Category:Documents Category:Blood War Category:Grand Alliance Category:New Horde